Production Company Gives GIs Opportunity to Make Films

A Hollywood filmmaker has a message for those who have served Uncle Sam: "'I Want You' to come work for me."

Film producer Larry Meistrich, whose credits include "Slingblade," and "You Can Count on Me," told FOX News the idea came after a Marine pitched him an idea for a movie.

"I thought we should do something that’s a cultural arts program and a jobs program," Meistrich said.

So he and his partners at Nehst Studios created GI Pictures, with plans to produce at least one project a year in which all writing, producing, directing, acting, and crew jobs are done by military members and their families.

He says troops have a skill set and an understanding of chain-of-command that serve them well on a film set. "Here’s a place where when you’re done, there will be a job for you. Every employee of the films or TV or web series we do will have to fit the criteria of former military or spouse or son or daughter."

According to Meistrich, military experience is priceless. "That daily tension, that angst creates really interesting ideas. And we wanted to create a place where there’s a forum to give a voice to those ideas. They don’t have to be military movies – I’d rather make 'Slumdog Millionaire' than 'Blackhawk Down.'"